Seth Devereux
The 27-year-old posted ninth, fifth and eighth placings to sit sixth in overall standings at the first round in Christchurch at the weekend.
Riding an MV Agusta for the Wanaka Helicraft Racing team, Devereux battled a class field in hot conditions.
Coming back from injury, he admitted he had to dig deep.
"The injury curtailed my fitness programme and I also missed out on several pre-season races.
"This was always going to a difficult meeting so to get such a good points score takes a little of the pressure off going into the second round in Timaru this weekend," he said.
Whanganui rider Richie Dibben leads the series.
